A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the home was a daycare. We regret the error— Ed.
El Cajon police announced late on Monday afternoon that a local man had been arrested for killing his wife.
Police were notified about the shooting shortly after 5:30 a.m. when someone called to say a woman had been shot in a home on Soma Place off Greenfield Drive. Officers and first-responders from Heartland Fire and Rescue arrived shortly afterward and found a 37-year-old woman in one of the house's five bedrooms.
Police said later in the day that the woman died in her home, shot by her 45-year-old husband, Abdulhannan Abdurazaq Al Wari. The couple's nine children were home at the time of the shooting, according to investigators.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
"Al Wari was taken into custody by detectives and booked into San Diego County Jail on charges of 187 PC, Homicide," El Cajon police said in a press release issued Monday afternoon. "Al Wari is not known to have a criminal history."
The family moved into the house just a few months ago, according to neighbors, who said they didn’t know the family, who reportedly kept to themselves. The children living in the home were often seen playing in the cul-de-sac, and seemed normal and happy, neighbors said.
Local
None of the children, who are between the ages of 2 and 17, were injured, police said. The children were put in the care of Child Welfare Services following the incident.
Steve Gallegos has, since the '70s, lived a few doors down from where the shooting took place. He told NBC 7 he had overheard the couple arguing.
Sign up for our Breaking news newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
"In the past, I’ve heard fighting and people yelling at each other,” Gallegos said.
Kelly Clouse, who also lives in the neighborhood, said she, too, heard the couple clashing.
“There was always a man and a woman screaming at each other," Clouse said. "All of the time. I work nights, so when I would come home, I would sit on my patio at night, and it was probably 1:30, 2 in the morning, and it was constantly screaming. Somebody was always mad at somebody.”
Both neighbors saw the aftermath on Monday.
"I saw 'em taking someone out on a gurney, and later on, I saw several children lining up and police or someone took the children in a van and took them someplace,” said Gallegos, who told NBC 7 he woke up to 9 or 10 police cars with lights flashing up the street."
Clouse said she saw the children after the shooting as well.
“I was expecting them to cry," Clouse said. "That’s why I was confused when it happened. I thought, 'OK, so maybe it's not domestic violence if nobody seems sad or upset. They just sat there and waited and got in the van.”
Investigators are withholding the victim's name pending the notification of her family.
Anybody with information about the killing is being asked to call El Cajon police at (619) 579-3311.
Tips can also be called in anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477 or sent in online at SDCRIMESTOPPERS.ORG.
